The operation of motor vehicles by individuals who are chemically impaired by alcohol or another substance is a major safety problem. Many automobile accidents involve someone that is under the influence of alcohol and in some cases, individuals who have already been cited or otherwise identified as misusing or abusing alcohol. In addition to putting the impaired driver at an increased risk of injury or death, the operation of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol often also affects the safety of others, such as the drivers and passengers in other vehicles. In addition to the increased risk of serious bodily injury or death caused by someone who is driving while under the influence of a chemical substance, there is also an increased risk of serious damage to personal and real property, as well as the cost and potential distraction from other needed services associated with the law enforcement and rescue workers that are called upon to respond to such accidents.
Recognizing the seriousness of driving while under the influence, many laws have been written prohibiting such conduct and providing various methods for dealing with such offenses when they occur. For example, a court or licensing authority may suspend the driving privileges of someone who is convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol or may require that a breath alcohol ignition interlock device be installed in his or her vehicle. Additionally, a state may require repeat offenders to install such devices as a condition of having their license reinstated.
Chemical impairment detection devices are also used to monitor and detect whether someone has improperly or without authorization consumed alcohol or drugs. For example, abstinence from the use of any alcohol may be a condition of a repeat offender's parole, probation, or home confinement.
A sobriety interlock device, when installed in an individual's vehicle, requires that the individual pass a sobriety test before the vehicle can be started. However, since the use of impairment detection interlocks is normally done outside the presence of law enforcement or any other supervising authority, and since a penalty may be attributed to a failed test, e.g., the vehicle will not start and a condition of parole may be violated, there can be a temptation to tamper with the impairment detectors to attempt to fraudulently affect its results. For example, if the designated tester has been drinking, he or she could ask someone who is sober to take the test for them and thus circumvent the interlock. Hence, a sobriety interlock that uses a breath sample to determine intoxication could be compromised if someone who is not intoxicated, like a child, provides the sample. Alternatively, an air compressor, balloon, or other like source of forced air may be blown into a sampling device in an attempt to circumvent the interlock. Once such a clean sample is provided, and the vehicle starts, the impaired driver can then drive away. Accordingly, there is a need to facilitate the identification of who is taking the test and whether the tester passed or failed in order to minimize circumvention and allow for the imposition of appropriate sanctions for violations.
Additionally, when a term of probation, parole, or home confinement requires alcohol or other chemical abstinence, or prohibits a person from attempting to operate a vehicle after consuming any alcohol, or after being impaired by alcohol, failing a breath test can result in serious penalties, including, for example, incarceration. However, with past systems, when a test detected prohibited levels of alcohol, the intended tester, e.g., the operator of the vehicle, could simply argue that someone else took and failed the test and thus altogether avoid the legal consequences, such as incarceration, and/or create evidentiary or proof issues requiring further and potentially costly adjudication.
To deter fraudulent testing or circumvention some systems require random retesting while the vehicle is in operation. However, just as a sober individual, like a child, can fraudulently take the initial test before the vehicle is allowed to start, that same individual could also ride along with the driver and fraudulently take a driving retest. Similarly, the designated tester could, as they may have initially done, use an air compressor, balloon, or other like source of clean forced air to circumvent the test. Additionally, some systems require a user to perform a certain identifying act, such as a sequence of blows. However, breath pulse codes can be copied by others or mimicked by using a forced air device and, as such, do not provide definite proof of the identity of the impairment tester.
As mentioned, chemical impairment detection systems are also used in conjunction with home confinement, or during an individual's probation. For example, as a term of probation, or as a term of a home confinement sentence, an individual may be required to abstain from the consumption of any alcohol and to periodically take a test for alcohol consumption. However ankle bracelets that measure alcohol off of the skin are cumbersome, costly, take a long time to gather a positive test result, and are not as accepted as benchmarked breath testing devices. Accordingly, a similar situation develops in that the identity of the user providing the sample must be positively confirmed. In an attempt to monitor and provide positive identification of the individual providing the sample, video cameras have been used. However, such monitoring can be less than desirable due to the amount of storage required by a video stream, the bandwidth required for transmission of such a video stream, the availability of reliable and adequate communications medium, whether wired, optical, or wireless, and the requirement for a human monitor to review the video stream. Also, the in home systems used for alcohol abstinence are typically not designed to be portable and generally cost more to operate than vehicle interlock systems. Moreover, the use of a camera in an automobile, or in a home for identification or even simply for recording an image, can further be hindered due to adverse lighting conditions, obstructions, movement, or poor camera angles. In other words, there can be issues regarding whether the tester will be visible, i.e., within the field of view of the camera and whether the camera will be able to capture an identifiable image of the tester.
Accordingly, there is a need for a detection device to enable positive identification of the individual who is subject to an impairment analysis. There is also a need for an impairment detection device that can desirably archive the requisite data to positively identify the impairment tester. There is also a need to deter circumvention of impairment detection systems. There is also a need to provide a low cost system for abstinence monitoring systems.